King launches campaign in fine style

Dani King made a stunning start to her Rio Olympics bid by claiming fourth place and the climbers jersey at the Santos Women's Tour in Australia.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Jan 2016, 19:07 BST

Updated 22nd Jan 2016, 19:14 BST

Dani King won team pursuit gold on the track at London 2012 but now wants to star on the road at Rio 2016

The 25-year-old, who hails from Hamble and began racing with Portsmouth’s i-Team, is targeting selection for the Great Britain road race team at the Games.

And her performance in the four-day stage race based in Adelaide, which was won by Aussie Katrin Garfoot, will certainly have boosted her claims.

Riding for the Wiggle High5 team, who are sponsored by Portsmouth-based online tri-sport retailer Wiggle, King finished third on stage one.

She was not out of the top 10 in the next three stages – ninth, fifth and ninth – as she accrued 13 mountains points to win that competition.

King said: ‘I’m going for selection for the Rio road race this year, so I’ve got to prove myself early.

‘That was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Australia – to start the season in good shape.’

Australia Portsmouth